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Bhansali's 'Ram Leela' in legal trouble

Indian cinema has always been a soft target for social
and religious activists. The scope and dimension of Indian cinema, its multi
facet subject makes it vulnerable to criticism from different corners.

A survey of Indian cinema shows that as early as in 1959
a Bengali film, ‘Neel AkasherNeechay’ directed by the renowned Mrinal Sen was
temporarily banned due to its political overtones.

In 2005 the film ‘Water’ written by Anurag Kashyap and directed by Deepa Mehta had to face the
anger of about 2000 protesters
because they believed was a
deliberate attempt to negatively portray the life of Hindu widows in Benaras.

Karan Johar directed romantic comedy film ‘Student of the
Year’ released in 2012, had complaints lodged against it for allegedly
depicting Radha in an improper way.

‘Oh my God’, a
comedy-satire, directed by Umesh Sukhla , with Akshay Kumar donning the role of
Lord Krishna, had an FIR lodged against it in Ajmer city for
intentionally wronging the Hindu
sentiment.

The latest film to come under legal hammer for hurting
the religious feelings of the Hindus is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Ram Leela’. A
PIL has been filed by lawyer Siddhrajsinh Chudasama on the ground that it has
humiliated the women of the Darbar community. According to the petitioner, the
film has used abusive language and indecent gestures unbecoming of any women.
Such foul language may also provoke enmity between the Rabri and the Darbar
community. He also added that Ramleela and Rasleela are viewed as religious
literature and the film is 'hurting the sentiments of Hindus and promoting
vulgarity'.

Dr Nutan Thakur Secretary of India’s Institute of
research and Documentation in Social Science has filed a complaint against the
film citing that the title of the film does not do justice to Ramlila as is
generally understood. On the contrary it is a canvas of intimate scenes between
Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukon which is spiced up with abusive language and
violence.

The director has been very open to these criticisms. He
has made it clear that ‘Ram Leela’ is not in any way a part of the
Ramayana. It is more a re-imaging of
Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. That said Bhansali has also added that the
film is his way of paying a tribute to his mother Leela whose name he so
proudly carries.